Citigroup announced second-quarter results Friday morning that beat Wall Street expectations -- reporting net income of $3.9 billion, or $1.28 per share, compared to average analyst estimates of earnings per share averaging $1.21.

Citi hit $17.9 billion in total quarterly revenue, 2% more from the same period a year ago.

Last year, Citi reported net income of $4.0 billion in its second quarter. The New York-based bank attributed this quarter's decreased income to a higher cost of credit and operating expenses, as well as a higher effective tax rate.

"During the quarter, we saw continued momentum in our businesses, with loan and revenue growth across both sides of the house," said Citi CEO Michael Corbat in a statement released Friday morning.

Revenues from Citi's consumer banking and institutional clients groups both saw growth in the quarter -- with respective revenues of $8 billion and $9.2 billion, up 5% and 6% from a year ago.

Corbat also said Citi's institutional clients group saw its best investment banking performance in seven years, nabbing $1.5 billion in revenue within Citi's institutional clients group, a 22% increase from last year. The jump helped offset a 45% decline in corporate revenues, which totaled $653 million.

Citi shares are currently priced at $67.02, nearly stable in pre-market trading. The stock is up 10.6% in 2017.

Citi has an average buy rating from the more than two dozen analysts covering its stock. Last month, UBS showed an improved outlook on Citi stock, upgrading it from sell to neutral.

The second part of the Federal Reserve's 2017 annual stress test, released June 18, gave Citi permission to increase its annual dividend 100% to $1.28 per share and also authorized the bank to buy back $15.6 billion in stock over the next year.

"Our recently announced 2017 capital plan includes a return of $18.9 billion enabling us to reduce the amount of capital we hold. We are clearly on course to increase both the return on capital and return of capital for our shareholders,” Corbat added in the Friday statement.

I'm an assistant editor at Forbes covering money & markets. At the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, I studied business journalism and economics while working for UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School as a marketing and communications assistant. I've also spent ti...